25th October 2017

v1 On another day, the angels (servants of God) gathered in heaven to see God. The accuser, called Satan, came with them to see God.

v2 God said to Satan, ‘Where did you come from?’

Satan replied to God, ‘I have travelled across the world. I have been to many places.’

v3 God said to Satan, ‘I have a servant called Job. Nobody else in the world is like Job! Job is good and honest. He respects God. And Job refuses to do evil deeds. And he is still a good man, although you opposed him. He is still good, although you tried to destroy him without any reason.’

v4 Satan replied to God, ‘But you did not allow me to hurt the man. A man will do anything to save his life. v5 If you hurt Job’s body, that man will really insult you.’

v6 God said to Satan, ‘I permit you to hurt Job. But you must not kill him.’

v7 So, Satan left God. And Satan caused Job to have spots on his body. The spots were sore. And the spots were on every part of Job’s body. v8 Job took a piece of pot, which he rubbed against the spots. And Job sat on the ground, on the ash heap.

Chapter 2

Verse 1

In chapter 1, Satan (the devil) wanted Job to insult God. Job refused to obey Satan. So Job was still a good man. Job had many troubles. He lost everything. His children were dead. But Job still respected God. And Job continued to praise God. This was bad news for Satan.

Then Satan decided to oppose Job again. Satan is a powerful enemy, but he can also be stupid. Satan thought that illness would make Job insult God. But Job was a good man. Job trusted God. Job would not obey Satan.

Verses 2-3

These verses are similar to Job 1:7-8. But God also accused Satan at the end of verse 3. God said that Satan had no reason to oppose Job.

Satan is cruel. He hates everyone who trusts God. But Satan is even cruel to the people who do Satan’s work. And those people will suffer with Satan in hell (Revelation chapter 20).

Verses 4-6

Satan wanted God to hurt Job. But God does not want people to be ill. And nobody will be ill in heaven (Revelation 21:4). So, God did not hurt Job. But God allowed Satan to test Job.

Verses 7-8

Satan made Job ill. Job’s skin was very painful.

This was a terrible test. Job had suffered very many troubles in chapter 1. And now, Job was ill.

Job made a tool that he rubbed against the spots. This made the spots less painful. Job sat on the ash heap. This was the tradition of Job’s people. A very sad person would sit on the ashes (Jonah 3:6; Luke 10:13). Then everyone would know that something terrible had happened.

Job’s wife’s advice

v9 Job’s wife told Job, ‘You cannot continue to be a good man now. Insult God! Then, you will die.’

v10 But Job told her, ‘Your words are foolish words. God gives good things to us. So, we must expect to suffer some evil things.’

We should not listen to evil advice. Sometimes our best friends speak terrible advice. We should not obey anyone whose advice is evil (Galatians 1:8).

Perhaps Job’s wife thought that Job should kill himself. But Job would not do this. Our lives are a gift from God. We should sympathise with people who want to die. We should care for them. And we should show them that life is God’s gift. Life is precious.

Or, perhaps Job’s wife thought that God would punish Job with death. But, this idea is also wrong. We should never do evil things. And many evil people insult God, but they continue to live. After death, God will punish every evil person (Revelation 20:12-15). This is why everybody should trust God. God will forgive each person that invites God into his or her life (Acts 3:19).

Verse 10

Job meant ‘evil’ by the word ‘foolish’. Only an evil person should say such things.

Job thought that God had done evil things to Job. Job thought that this was fair. He knew that God did many good things. So, Job would not hate God if God did some evil things. But Job’s ideas were wrong. God is good. He never does any evil things.

Job’s words were not evil because Job was sincere. Job was still trying to respect God. Job still gave honour to God.

Compare Job 1:22 and Job 2:10. In chapter 1, Job did not accuse God. But in chapter 2, Job accused God. Job said that God had done something evil.

Job’s three friends arrive

v11 Job had three friends. Their names were:

· Eliphaz, who belonged to the people called Temanites;

· Bildad, who belonged to the people called Shuhites;

· Zophar, who belonged to the people called Naamathites.

These men heard about Job’s troubles. So, they left their homes. They agreed to go to Job. Then, they would sympathise with Job. And they would comfort him.

v12 But when the three friends saw Job, they could not even recognise him. They cried out. They tore their clothes. They put dust on their heads. v13 For a whole week, they sat with Job. They sat on the ground, even during the night. And they said nothing to him. They saw that Job was suffering greatly. So, they were silent.

Verse 11

Job’s friends came from three nations. They were intelligent men. Their speeches were clever. And they cared about Job. They wanted to sympathise with Job. They thought that they could encourage Job. And they wanted to comfort him.

Verse 12

Job’s illness was very severe. The spots were so bad that the friends did not recognise Job. The friends wanted to show Job that they too were very sad. Like Job (Job 1:20), they tore their clothes. They also put dust on their heads. This was a tradition to show that they were very sad.

Verse 13

The three friends were careful not to upset Job. They sympathised with him.

They did not even leave him during the night. They sat on the ash heap with Job.

They were polite. Perhaps they expected to talk with Job. But Job was not ready to speak. His pain was too great. His troubles were too terrible. Job just wanted to remain silent. His friends respected this. So they were silent until Job spoke.

The friends’ actions in chapter 2 were good and right. Later, they would say many foolish things. But in chapter 2, they really cared about Job. They were patient. They were kind. They wanted to help their friend. And we can learn many things from them.

A week later, Job and his friends began to speak. They tried to explain Job’s troubles. They made many mistakes in their speeches. But they also learned many wonderful things about God. In the end, God forgave the friends. And God made Job successful again. But first, we will study their speeches.